Abstract
Fermi problems, or order of magnitude estimates, are often used in introductory physicscourses. In this paper I will show that first year students studying physics at university donot arrive with the skill set to solve these problems, and they have to be actively taughthow to solve them. Once they have been shown how to solve Fermi problems, theabove-average students in the class usually perform slightly better on Fermi problems inexaminations than they do on more traditional physics problems. However, many studentswho are below average in overall grade find the Fermi problems even more challenging thanthe traditional problems.
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